Relations education in digital culture
Valmor RhodenI Valeska Maria Fortes de OliveiraII IUniversidade Federal do Pampa (UNIPAMPA), São Borja/RS – Brazil IIUniversidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria/RS – Brazil
A BSTRACT – Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay: Public Relations education in digital culture. This study aimed to compare the National Curriculum for Public Relations of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, reflecting on the quali-fication in higher education. The methodology relies on bibliographical research and documentation support. The results showed that only Brazil has specific curriculum guidelines for the field. Regarding the course load, there are significant differences between the countries. And in relation to this scenario, which inserts the profession of Public Relations in digital cul-ture, we realized that such a change is incipient when discussed by the Bra-zilian official documentation. Also, another point observed is that in Ar-gentina and in Uruguay the courses have the autonomy to create contents. Keywords: Higher Education. Public Relations. Curriculum Guidelines. Digital Culture.
Introduction
One of the key practices that transform the world of work is com-munication. Barichello (2009) described the implication of this scenar-io in organizatscenar-ions and, consequently, among communicatscenar-ion manag-ers, emphasizing the interactivity with the public and the convergence provided by the environment:
Contemporary organizations need to do more than use computer-mediated communication strategies. They need, above all, to assimilate these new space-time levels in their everyday activities. Two structural properties of digital communication need to be used: the maximiza-tion of interactivity with the public and the convergence of possible actions in only one communication device (Barichello, 2009, p. 351).
Such challenges are faced by the Public Relations field1 as a
pro-fession and also are a concern related to the academic training of new professionals. This is an issue that emerges when we reflect on the rela-tionship of theory and practice as supporting spheres of the curricular proposals.
About 3.2 billion people (corresponding to approximately 40% of the world population) are estimated to have access to the internet, ac-cording to the G1 website2. Thus, the global scenario changes amid the
growing digital culture, establishing new ways of being, thinking and acting with support of the possibilities offered by digital information and communications technologies. However, are the University cours-es of Public Relations attentive to such changcours-es? And in Brazil, are we in accordance with close realities, such as those from neighboring coun-tries, like Argentina and Uruguay?
Under this bias, the questions of this study are justified, as we seek to understand an issue relevant to the Public Relations field and to the higher education: To what extent the changes in the Curriculum Guidelines for higher education in Public Relations, today, considering the scenarios of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, are responding to the chal-lenges of digital culture?
From the theoretical perspective, this study focuses on Higher Education Policies, which, according to Franco and Bittar (2006, p. 166):
[...] define rights and duties, preferences, goals, principles and forms of organization of the tertiary Education, in-cluding the functions of teaching, research and exten-sion. One of the main issues of the educational policy in Brazil is related to the democratization of access and quality of education, often interwoven in the controversy between the duties and prerogatives of the State (public) and private interests.
interim, the aim of this article is to analyze and establish a comparison between DCNs of Public Relations from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, considering the current higher education training in the field and the challenges of digital culture. Thus, we intend to verify if and how the different curricular proposals of the undergraduate courses include contents and activities that address the digital culture, by reading the documentation about the area in the countries studied regarding train-ing changes.
With this goal in mind, the trends of the world of work and of the curricula are never compliant. Barichello (2008, p. 536) stresses the im-portance of higher education studies for communication professionals, as the training consists of “[...] one way of understanding its perfor-mance, both in the academic and in the professional context, especially regarding the recognition of its identity contours.”
To carry out the study proposal, besides the bibliographical re-view, the main method used to conduct the study is the document analysis, which includes records that serve as a relevant source on the subject. For the construction of the text, we surveyed specific references of the area in Brazil: Resolution No. 2, September 27, 2013 (Brasil, 2013); and wider Resolutions for higher education in Argentina and Uruguay, for lacking specific documents: Resolution No. 6, February 13, 1997 (Ar-gentina, 1997); Decree No. 104/14, April 24, 2014 (Uruguay, 2014).
Considering the character that we suggested for this study, we brought the concept of comparison in education as a history of mean-ings (Cunha; Isaia, 2006), i.e. the meanmean-ings that different communities give to their actions and that allow them to build and rebuild the world. In this sense, the article presents the reality of the guidelines in the Public Relations field of the three countries aforementioned, which will be analyzed and, next, compared in general terms. It is an attempt that does not claim the singular explanation, but that acknowledges itself on the complexity of meanings, understanding the limits of its interpre-tation. In this sense, it is understandable that the guidelines influence higher education through minimum training lines and that several oth-er factors involve educational institutions, the management of courses and teaching staffs, which makes possible an updated statement in the area.
Training in the Age of Digital Culture
1. Ability to communicate or mix any product based on a digital common language; 2. Ability to communicate from the local to the global in real time, and vice versa, in order to blur the interaction process; 3. Existence of multiple modes of communication; 4. Interconnection of all database digitalized networks or the achievement of Nelson’s hypertext dream with the storage and retrieving data system, called Xanadú in 1965; 5. Capacity to recon-figure all configurations creating a new meaning in the different multilayers of the communication processes; 6. Gradual creation of a collective mind due to online work through a set of brains without any limits. At this stage, I am referring to connections between online brains and the collective mind (Castells, 2008, online).
Also according to the author, the culture of the internet is “[...] a technocratic belief in the progress of humans through technology” (Castells, 2003, p. 53). Thus, a challenge emerges for higher education, that is, the issue is not only to teach technology and obtain metrics: we have to know what to do with all the data circulating. As stressed by Ma-ciel (2009, p. 283), “[...] the mere reproduction of theories and methods does not prepare the professional to monitor the changeability of the world and the reality of its profession.”
As for education in Brazil, especially concerning Public Relations, the DCNs are parameters drawn up by the Ministry of Education to guide the training. According to Resolution No. 2, September 27, 2013 (Brasil, 2013, p. 28):
Art. 2. The organization of undergraduate courses in Pub-lic Relations, respecting the National Curriculum Guide-lines and the Opinions on this Council, should be drawn up with clear establishment of curricular components, which, without prejudice to other aspects, will cover: I – pedagogical project and curricular matrix; II– training lines; III – articulating theory and practice; IV – update processes; V – total course load; VI – laboratory structure; VII – description of general and specific skills; VIII – skills and profile desired for the professional; IX – curriculum content; X – supervised curricular internship; XI – moni-toring and evaluation; XII – extracurricular activities; XIII – final course paper.
The curriculum guidelines are, according to the National Council of Education (Brasil, 1997), guidelines for the preparation of curricu-la, which must be respected by all higher education institutions in the country, in any training areas. To ensure flexibility and the quality of education, the guidelines must observe the following principles:
pos-sible the establishment of specific contents with three pre-determined course loads, which may not exceed 50% of the total course load of the courses; 3) Avoid the unnec-essary prolongation of undergraduate courses; 4) Encour-age a solid general training, so the graduate student may overcome the challenges of renewed conditions of profes-sional practice and knowledge production, allowing vari-ous types of differentiated training and qualifications in the same program; 5) Stimulate independent study prac-tices, aiming at the student’s progressive professional and intellectual autonomy; 6) Encourage the recognition of knowledge, skills and competences acquired outside the school environment, including those referring to the professional experience deemed relevant to the training area; 7) Strengthen the articulation of theory with prac-tice, valuing individual and collective research, as well as internships and participation in extension activities; 8) Include guidelines for the conduction of periodic evalu-ations using a variety of instruments to inform teachers and students about the development of educational ac-tivities (Brasil, 1997, p. 2-3).
Thus, CNE decided to adopt a common orientation for the guide-lines, ensuring flexibility, creativity and responsibility for the institutions to create their curricular proposals. Nevertheless, as already mentioned, there are general lines that should guide the courses and educational in-stitutions in the preparation of the Pedagogical Project of the Curriculum (PPC). Therefore, it is important to understand the theoretical-practical relationship, which breaks with the dichotomy present in the positiv-istic perception of science, in which the practice is understood as the application of the theory. In this perspective, the components integrate the didactic teaching system, which is something complex, with hetero-geneous, interdefined and interdependent elements (Lucarelli, 2009).
Regarding the heterogeneous elements, in the debate on innova-tion in higher educainnova-tion, Carrasco (2013, p. 49) adds that:
The great accumulation of knowledge, its fast obsoles-cence and the renovation and emerging of new bodies of content mark the need to think of other forms of organiz-ing the program contents and to design new teachorganiz-ing- teaching-learning strategies and assessment of such teaching-learning. The way the curricular discussion has been conceived and organized, in the context of higher education, obstructs the thinking of proposals and teaching mediation able to respond to different demands of the knowledge society and the world of work, which need to be raised and dealt with within the University.
The representations of the University professors, graduated fol-lowing a monodisciplinary and specialization logic, have created dif-ficulties for the imaginative exercise of other curricular designs.
to more complex and less narrowing (reductionist) ap-proaches, as pointed out by Morin (1994, 2001). The mono-disciplinary logic of our teacher training curricula even-tually set up a specialized and isolated teaching method (Oliveira, 2003, p. 254).
This conception, in areas other than teacher training, configures a specialized professionalism, not allowing, in the University space, the rewiring of knowledge, which, in the world of work and life, are inter-related. The isolation of some curricular proposals of the professional domain and of the demands of the current society produces, in the stu-dent, after entering in his/her field, the feeling that he/she was prepared for challenges that have changed.
Now, in a time of constant changes, due to the expansion of digital culture, the context of higher education of Public Relations in the digi-tal culture is in the midst of complexity. As a result, it is not possible to study it in a generic way, because it would be implied the risk of covering specific perspectives.
The advancement of the internet and the expansion of digital me-dia created a mismatch between the world of work and the courses that prepare Public Relations professionals. The rapid pace of the techno-logical development, coupled to all social activities, to some extent, lags behind the course. The media are not exclusively digital, and the tradi-tional media can have an online version.
For Negroponte (1995, p. 22), “[...] one of the reasons why the me-dia have become digital so fast is the fact that we have achieved high levels of understanding much faster than most people expected.” In this sense, the role of the Public Relations professional needs to be rethought not only because of the world of work and their new requirements, but also regarding the meaning of the profession to society.
In a way, the digital content has greater or lesser insertion in a PPC, depending on the emphasis and on the teaching staff, except for the DCNs, which must support each project. The centrality of com-munication in the contemporary society involves the strengthening of this field of study in the academia. More than to adopt a set of techni-cal knowledge for the improvement of contemporary communicative practices, the development of theoretical bases that allow the under-standing of the digital era is essential. In this sense, the resources can no longer be seen as something complementary to the context of the integrated communication. For Kunsch (2008), the integrated commu-nication is composed of various forms of commucommu-nication (institutional, marketing, internal and administrative), allowing the synergistic activ-ity of an organization’s policy in an integrated manner. In other words, the digital scenario cannot be an appendix of Public Relations work, it needs to be the central focus.
The Trajectory of Higher Education of Public Relations
in Brazil
Considering the creation of the Journalism course at Universi-dade do Distrito Federal in 1947 as a historical landmark, the teaching of communication, in Brazil, began 70 years ago. The training in the area was first linked to Journalism, because of its precursors being, originally, members of the press, but there was a reference to Public Re-lations (Moura, 2002).
The first Public Relations course, lasting four years, was created 20 years later, in 1967, with the foundation of the School of Cultural Communication, at Universidade de São Paulo, known currently as the School of Communication and Arts (Teixeira, 2002). During this period, the Law No. 5377 was sanctioned (Brasil, 1967), regulating the profes-sion and making Brazil the first country in the world to adopt specific legislation for Public Relations. This fact sparked the creation of several faculties and departments at national level.
According to Campanella (2008 p. 68-69), “[...] the number of fac-ulties of communication, in Brazil, in 1974 – not all offering the Public Relations course – was 54, being 15 in São Paulo, 10 in Rio de Janeiro, and the remaining ones in other states.” The quality of education vided was problematic, according to Marques de Melo (2007), with pro-grams that were outdated and distant from the Brazilian reality.
In 1984, a new minimum curriculum was formulated, with Res-olution No. 02/84, which, according to Moura (2002), brought infra-structure demands for facilities, laboratories and proper equipment for vocational training in different areas of communication, in addition to mandatory experimental projects in Public Relations courses. The redemocratization process in Brazil, which triggered direct elections in 1984, helped the profession to leave the governmental bias, tied to ceremonial and protocol procedures during the period of military gov-ernments, and started inserting itself into the organizational domain (Moura, 2002).
The 1990s denoted a particularly important landmark due to the development of the internet and the emergence of digital technologies. This period also stands out because of the discussions for the imple-mentation of DCNs, which entered into force at the beginning of the following decade. Amid the advances, in the 2000s, many Public Rela-tions courses were created in Brazil3. Discussions on the professional’s
profile continued at the beginning of the new millennium. Currently, according to the Inep/Mec4, 76 Public Relations courses are in
The 2013 National Curriculum Guidelines for Public Relations
in Brazil
Although no specific reference was made to the emergence of digital culture, the 2013 document that establishes the Public Relations DCNs mentions that the professional should be in command of the communicational process of different media. Another document guid-ance is stated in general principles, referring to the issue of updating courses, which are hold responsible for the offer of conditions, to stu-dents, so they develop knowledge and practices in digital media, with updated technological resources and constant training of the teaching staff (Brasil, 2013).
In comparison with the old guidelines, approved in 2001 (Brasil, 2002), which were not specific to the Public Relations field, there are three new aspects: the mandatory curricular internship, the increase in the mandatory minimum course load (from 2,700 to 3,200 hours) and the presentation of the structure, which, from basic and complementa-ry content went on to be described in areas, with four provided aspects and study of the digital scenario. Although they are qualitatively shy, in terms of scope, they alter the current structure of the courses in the country.
The implementation of the 2013 guidelines, compared with the previous ones, brought a timid breakthrough regarding the digital scenario. Among other factors, the low participation of academic and professional communities in the discussion process, both in the virtual consultation and in the public hearings, possibly contributed to this re-sult.
The structure that covers the curricular content of the Public Rela-tions course presents an organization into four areas: General Training; Communication; Public Relations; Additional Training. In Communica-tion, the document provides for studies on the digital scenario in two items: a) studies of media, information and communications technol-ogy, and b) studies on cyberculture. In Public Relations, there are two items aimed at the digital scenario: a) crisis management, institutional writing, production of printed, audiovisual and digital media, and b) network communication.
social networking content management (69%), monitoring/auditing (57%), management of corporate blogs (55%), activation of promotional campaigns (53%), and social media consulting (47%). Data indicate that measurement has been the most frequent service in agencies nowa-days. And the services that clients sought the most were: networking content management (51%), monitoring/auditing (42%), activation of promotional campaigns (33%), management of corporate blogs (31%), and social media consulting (29%).
What we can observe, based on the research, is that the world of work focuses on a management profile of these digital communication processes, with emphasis on the use, monitoring and updates of social networks. The need to measure the return that communication pro-vides becomes, increasingly, an essential factor in the communication-al process, even to justify the investment. In the digitcommunication-al environment, there are tools and evaluation programs available and, through them, these possibilities are extended, demonstrating, effectively, the results they provide to businesses.
Amid the process of transformations, it is possible to claim that the updated guidelines serve to indicate what is expected from a Public Relations professional in the digital scenario and regarding their com-munication skills and competencies, so that students do not have a dis-proportionate education in relation to other communication areas. In Brazil, all Public Relations courses are bachelor’s degrees. In Argentina, the situation is different, as we shall see in the following session.
Public Relations in Argentina
According to Ferrari (2004, p. 6), Public Relations in Argentina have emerged “[...] in the colonial times, when the first ‘lobbyists,’ against the Spanish trusteeship, were members of the first governing body of 1810.” However, the author states that, officially, the birth of the function occurred only in the mid-twentieth century.
In 1930, Galicia Bank, Lever Brothers (now Unilever), Shell, Siemens, Swift Armour, Banco Rio de la Plata, Er-icsson, Colgate Palmolive, Astra, Bayer, Agfa-Gevaert, Price Waterhouse, Goodyear, Citibank, Kodak, Deloitte & Touche, Dun & Brandstreet, Esso, Ford, IBM, Duperial, Cyanamid, and Bank of Boston were already established in Argentina (Ferrari, 2004, p. 6).
Despite the presence of big companies, where professionals per-formed the Public Relations function, until the early 1960s the position was usually occupied by journalists in Argentina. This happened be-cause, until then, there was no formal academic education in the field.
making contact with what was going on abroad, including in the busi-ness communication framework. Other important dates of the period are also mentioned by Ferrari (2004, p. 9):
In 1958, the Argentine Association of Public Relations was created by Argentinean professionals and foreigners who worked in public relations at the time. In 1961, the Argen-tine Circle of Public Relations Professionals was founded. In 1962, the Circle opened its first school of public rela-tions, which offered vocational, non-university educa-tion. The first students would be entering the job market only in the late 1960s.
In 1962, a vocational course at the School of Public Relations was opened. According to Kemp (2014), in 1964, the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa opened the first Public Relations course that issued the University title approved by the Ministry of Education. In 1968, the Pub-lic Relations course at the Universidad Argentina John F. Kennedy was inaugurated. In 1972, training in the area was created by Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora and the Universidad de Morón also estab-lished its course.
In the political scenario, the 1970s were turbulent in Argentina, with Perón’s short second period, followed by his wife’s, Isabelita. Then, with the arrival of the new military government and the closing of the Congress, the country took other directions. According to Ferrari (2004, p. 10):
The companies needed to communicate through almost personalized managements with public authorities that had great power. Thus, with the presence of a strong State, public relations included 80% of government relations. In addition, the communication in companies suffered a tremendous budget cutback. Along with this situation, multinational companies established in the country had its officers kidnapped by guerrilla groups and, also, due to the Falklands War.
Between the decades of 1960 and 1980, the nationalist sentiment arose in Argentina against the North-American force. Governments systematically fostered nationalism, which also served to justify the white elephant into which the State had been converted. The multina-tional companies maintained their numbers for decades. Until the mid-1980s, the local papers did not dedicate a space for business news. Be-sides not having economic supplements, the section aimed to the theme was occupied by issues regarding the government economic policy and macroeconomics. In view of this, the high demand from the students who enrolled in Public Relations in the 1970s took the universities by surprise.
of state-owned enterprises and its consequent rationalization.” These factors boosted the profession in Argentina.
In the 2000s, the field grew due to the creation of several com-munication agencies, among them, Edelman Argentina, one of the lead-ers in corporate communications in the world. In relation to the areas of greatest expertise in Public Relations, the country’s most developed ones were those of press relations, followed by financial communica-tions, strategic planning, crisis management and event organization, in addition to ceremonial and protocol, services that are also very wide-spread in the country.
In Argentina, 47 Public Relations courses5 are in operation today,
being 27 of undergraduate level and 20 of pregrado (which equals, in Brazil, to a vocational course). Despite this, the profession has not been regulated yet.
Curriculum Guidelines for Public Relations in Argentina
In Argentina, the Resolution No. 6/96 establishes a minimum course load of 2,600 hours for undergraduate courses in the country. In relation to the minimum contents for higher education, careers are divided into two types, listed in Law No. 24521 (Argentina, 1995), in its articles 42 and 43. Some areas are regulated by the government, while others are not. The latter ones, to which Public Relations belong, do not have minimum contents. Therefore, the course descriptions of this area depend on each University.As to the nomenclature, undergraduate courses are called: teach-ing degree in public and institutional relations. In vocational courses (pregrado), however, public relations analyst is predominant.
In the following section we provide details about the Uruguayan higher education dedicated to the Public Relations field.
Public Relations in Uruguay
Public Relation activities in Uruguay formally emerged in the government sector, in the 1950s, with the creation of a specialized de-partment in the Armed Forces. In the 1960s, the state-owned company ANCAP (National Administration of Fuels, Alcohol, and Portland) was a pioneer, after establishing a Department of Public Relations.
In Uruguay, the entities of the category also had a decisive role in the development of Public Relations. “[...] Radeck Balcárcel, Public Rela-tions manager of ANCAP and undersecretary of the newspaper El País
at the time, encouraged the creation of the Asociación Uruguaya de Re-laciones Públicas (AURP)” (Ferrari, 2004, p. 13). The Association, estab-lished on September 19, 1962, highlights in its bylaws three key goals:
a harmonious coexistence with all sectors of society; b) promoting the exchange of knowledge, techniques among the members and among the entities in the country and abroad; c) defending the public relations activity, raising it to the category of profession in the country (Ferrari, 2004, p. 13).
Ferrari (2004, p. 14) also highlights the creation of the first courses of the field in Uruguay:
In 1966, the first courses of PR began, sponsored by AURP. The courses were taught by the Argentinean lawyer and Public Relations professional Carlos Panisello La Moglie. In addition, Román Perez Senac began the course of Ag-ricultural Public Relations. Subsequently, the Uruguayan Institute for Public Relations was created where, for sev-eral years, specialized courses that shaped a generation of professionals in the field were offered.
Since 1968 and throughout the 1970s, AURP began to offer Nation-al Days, presenting itself at inter-American events. In 1981, the associa-tion sponsored courses in vocaassocia-tional level with the Center for Studies and Qualification from Uruguay and, in 1983, it was responsible for or-ganizing the first World Meeting of Public Relations Teachers (Ferrari, 2004).
In the 1980s, the courses were reorganized by AURP, being divid-ed into three levels: vocational (one year), Public Relations consultant (two years) and manager (three years). AURP, in such a way, formally contributed to the training of the area, with a decisive response by the students of Public Relations, which yearned for knowledge that could be applied in their professional activities. The courses promoted by the entity spread over Uruguay, covering 20 cities. In this scenario, local en-tities were established, all endorsed by AURP (Ferrari, 2004). According to Ferrari (2004, p. 14), in the 2000s:
[...] companies that recognize the importance of public re-lations are advised by international specialized agencies; also, in all public offices, ministries and even in Presiden-cy there are people qualified by Aurp. According to Public Relations professionals, the concept of public relations activity is more related to protocol and social events than to the administration or to the planning of business and institutional communication.
Presently, it is possible to have a teaching degree in Social Com-munication, not Public Relations specifically, at undergraduate level in four educational institutions in the country: Universidad ORT, Univer-sidad Católica del Uruguay, Universidad de Montevideo and Universidad de la República. The University Business offers a master’s degree in Cor-porate Communications and Public Relations.
one-year long course, and the Universidad ORT, with the two-year long
courses of Analyst of Corporate Communications and Public Relations, and the two-year long Vocational Course of Public Relations and Event Management.
The Universidad del Trabajo del Uruguay offers vocational train-ing and has a two-year course, granttrain-ing the title of Social Communi-cation Technician. VoCommuni-cational institutes, on the other hand, generally offer one-year courses.
Curriculum Guidelines for Public Relations in Uruguay
In Uruguay, Decree No. 104/14 (Uruguay, 2014) grants recogni-tion to Universities and to institutes on the several courses offered, only considering the minimum course load of 2,200 hours. Concerning cur-riculum or content guidelines, there is no guidelines on the part of the Uruguayan Ministry of Education, that is, each institution has autono-my regarding the courses offered.According to the President of AURP, Juan Pablo Topalian (2015)6,
the country has:
[...] a professional registry. Considering the data of mem-bers from our organization, those involved in professional updating courses and seminars, and the number of uni-versity graduates, I venture to estimate that there are more than a thousand professionals working in our country. The request for a title to exercise the profession in the country is quite recent, since the official graduate and vocational courses are more than 15 years old. Today, it is common the requirement of training in one of these courses to search for vacancies in the world of work. AURP is working on the development of a legislation for Public Relations and a professional record, however, there is still no date for promulgation.
Brief Comparative Analysis between the Guidelines of
the three Countries
As seen in this article, in Brazil, the DCNs for Public Relations were published in 2013. In Argentina and in Uruguay, there are no specific documents for the field, only a broad legislation related to the guidelines for higher education. In both countries, the courses and in-stitutions have autonomy in relation to the syllabus content.
In this part of the discussion, Franco and Bittar’s vision confirms the importance of Higher Education Policies (2006, p. 166):
as the growing popular demand for right to Education, in-cluding higher education.
In view of this and based on the content exposed here, Chart 1, below, shows a comparative synthesis of the three countries, pointing out the main differences in relation to higher education in Public Rela-tions in the current scenario, digital development followed by a more detailed explanation on the information provided in the chart. Only the training referring specifically to the field of Public Relations and not to Social Communication are described.
Chart 1 – Comparison of the Guidelines/Curriculum Guidelines for Public Relations between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay
ASPECTS
ANALYZED BRAZIL ARGENTINA URUGUAY
Public Relations profile
One reference (Art. 4th/Res. No.
2/2013) Does not have Does not have
Specific skills for the digital scenario
Two references (Public Relations training/Res. No.
2/2013)
Does not have Does not have
Minimum course
load 3,200 hours 2,600 hours 2,200 hours
Internship Mandatory Not mandatory Not mandatory
Structure
Four areas: (1) General training;
(2) Communication training; (3) Public Relations
training; (4) Additional training.
Educational institutions/courses
have the autonomy to create the content.
The courses have autonomy, there is no guideline to guide the content.
Most often terminology used in the academic
education Public Relations
Public Relations Analyst
Teaching degree in Public and Institutional Relations Public Relations Analyst Corporate Communications and Public Relations
Analyst
Technician in Public Relations and event
management
Source: Prepared by the authors.
Regarding the graduate profile, the Brazilian guidelines have the following provision:
and qualitatively statistical, economic and social data, transforming them into indicators for communication policy-making. II – perception of socio-cultural dynam-ics, aiming to interpret the demands from various types of organizations and from the public; III – understanding of contemporary problems caused by globalization, of
information and communication technologies and
sus-tainable development required for the planning of public relations; IV – understanding of the technical and scien-tific field of communication, able to establish a systemic vision of Public Relations policies and strategies; V – lead-ership, negotiation, decision-making and entrepreneurial vision (Brasil, 2013, p. 2, emphasis added).
As there are no guidelines in Argentina and in Uruguay, there is no description of the graduate profile in both countries. On the compe-tencies of the graduate concerning the digital scenario, as mentioned earlier, the Brazilian guidelines have two references in the Public Rela-tions axis – crisis management, institutional writing, production of print-ed, audiovisual and digital media, and network communication. Just like in the profile issue, this item description was not found for Argentina and Uruguay.
Regarding the study period, in Brazil, the minimum course load increased in 500 hours, following the 2013 guidelines, from 2,700 to 3,200. In Argentina, the minimum course load required is 2,600 hours. In Uruguay, the minimum course load for undergraduate courses is 2,200 hours.
As to the internship, this item is mandatory only in Brazil, being added to recent guidelines. In the other two countries analyzed, the re-quirement of this activity is not listed as one of the training elements.
Concerning the structure, as already reported in Brazil’s descrip-tive section, the country has four specific training areas. In Argentina and Uruguay, the course description is still flexible, with more autono-my in curriculum organization, however, it has no guidelines that ori-ent studies in Public Relations.
Finally, it is still interesting to consider the terminology of the area, an issue discussed earlier in the article. In Brazil, although there are some exceptions, the training is known as Public Relations, justi-fied by its regulation, in 1967. In Argentina and Uruguay, other classifi-cations appear, as shown in the descriptive sessions of both countries, especially Public Relations Analyst and Teaching degree in Public Rela-tions.
Final Considerations
ac-companied by higher education institutions. In her study, Terra (2006, p. 66) described the “[...] birth of the digital organization-al communication and digitorganization-al public relations, both arising from the phenomenon of digitalization and the evolution of society.” That is, for a decade, the digital scenario has been part, in an incisive way, of Public Relations work and has been seen as an object of study.
In the interim, as Castells reinforces (2003, p. 212), the education-al system, as a whole, in the world, “[...] is, for education-all I know, unfortunately unsuitable for the use of this new learning method [...] It lacks teachers able to use it efficiently, in addition to pedagogy and institutional orga-nization to stimulate new learning skills.”
Higher education is the one that prepares or should prepare the professional for the world of work. Therefore, what is reflected on this article, comparing the Brazilian reality with those from other countries regionally close, is the issue that Higher Education in Public Relations has to incorporate, more substantially, the field into the digital domain, so this becomes a perspective of business and expansion to the profes-sional life. However, according to Carrasco (2013, p. 46), we have seen that:
The university faces a major dilemma in relation to the conjugation of its strictly academic purposes with the re-quirements from the society. This is due to the fact that, despite the pressure, associated with the social pertinence of its tasks, according to the characteristics of its context and its time, being at the service of its social, political and economic setting of better positioning its graduates in the professional world, cannot turn in a mere toll in favor for the economy and the market demands. The knowledge that generates research and training of professionals is inseparable from its existence. Therefore, the university must deepen in what is constituent of itself.
Corroborating this view, in terms of guidelines, we observed, throughout this article, that, among the three countries, only Brazil has specific documentation for Public Relations, and only since 2013. Previ-ously, the field integrated the broader guidelines for the field of social communication. In the case of Public Relations, the MEC documents that determine its curricula are from 1969, 1978 and 1984, in addition to the National Curriculum Guidelines from 2002 and 2013, which were specific.
re-garding the field. The presence of the digital scenario is little described, going against current changes in the world of work.
In view of the data exposed, it is understood that the DCNs can be deployed in an avant-garde mode, considering the local and regional needs in PPCs, with more references to the digital scenario. This in-volves a system that integrates what is expected from the professionals, graduate profile, their skills and abilities, in accordance with relevant legislation and professional opportunities.
In Brazil, although there is specific documentation, there are also gaps, both in the curricular structure and in the participation of inter-ested institutions, especially in the multimedia scenario that involves our society. In the neighboring countries analyzed here, Argentina and Uruguay, one of the main factors that still requires breakthroughs is the structuring of a specific guiding document, stressing the need to broad-en discussions about the world of work in Public Relations concerning the digital age.
Translated from Portuguese by Lara Rocha and proofread by Ananyr Porto Fajardo.
Received on August 14, 2017 Approved on March 28, 2018
Notes
1 There are two possible classifications: Public Relations, with hyphen, and Public Relations, without hyphen. The former designates the professional and the lat-ter, the activity. Source: Ordinance No. 116, May 09, 2011, Conferp. Available at: <http://www.conferp.org.br/?p=2728>. Access on: 12 May 2017.
2 Available at: <goo.gl/dqYZWM>. Access on: 31 Jul. 2017.
3 Inep/Mec data indicated that in July 2009 there were 127 accredited on-site courses in the country.
4 Available at: <http://portal.inep.gov.br/censo-da-educacao-superior>. Access on: 31 Jul. 2017.
5 Data from the Ministerio de Educación y Deportes de Argentina. Available at: <http://titulosoficiales.siu.edu.ar>. Access on: 31 Jul. 2017.
6 Excerpt taken from an electronic message sent to the authors, according to the list of references.
References
ARGENTINA. Ministério de Cultura e Educação. Lei de Educação Superior, nº 24.521, de 20 de julho de 1995. Boletim Oficial (n. 28.204), Buenos Aires, 10 ago. 1995. Available at: <https://goo.gl/izs94t>. Access on: 20 Jun. 2017.
ARGENTINA. Ministério de Cultura e Educação. Resolução nº 6, 13 de fevereiro de 1997. Available at: <https://goo.gl/WgAvNG>. Access on: 4 Apr. 2017.
BARICHELLO, Eugenia Maria Mariano da Rocha. Apontamentos sobre as Es-tratégias de Comunicação Mediadas por Computador nas Organizações Con-temporâneas. In: KUNSCH, Margarida Maria Krohling (Org.). Comunicação
Organizacional: histórico, fundamentos e processos. São Paulo: Saraiva, 2009.
P. 337-353.
BAUMAN, Zygmunt. Turistas e Vagabundos. In: BAUMAN, Zygmunt.
Global-ização: as conseqüências humanas. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 1999. P. 85-110.
BRASIL. Lei n. 5.377, de 11 de dezembro de 1967. Disciplina a Profissão de Rela-ções Públicas e dá outras providências. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 12 dez. 1967. Seção 1. P. 12477. Available at: <https://goo.gl/cgmPnK>. Access on: 12 Dec. 2016.
BRASIL. Lei nº 9.394, de 20 de dezembro de 1996. Estabelece as diretrizes e bases da educação nacional. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 23 dez. 1996. P. 27833. Available at: <http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/L9394.htm>. Access on: 10 Nov. 2017.
BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Conselho Federal de Educação. Resolução nº 02, de 24 de janeiro de 1984. Documenta, Brasília, n. 278, p. 209-211, fev. 1984. BRASIL. Ministério da Educação e do Desporto. Parecer CNE nº 776, de 3 de dezembro de 1997. Orienta para as diretrizes curriculares dos cursos de gradu-ação. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 03 dez. 1997. Available at: <https:// goo.gl/oR8Hxi>. Access on: 27 Mar. 2017.
BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Parecer CNE/CES nº 1.363, de 12 de dezembro de 2001. Retifica o Parecer CNE/CES nº 492/2001, de 4 de julho de 2001, publi-cado no Diário Oficial da União de 9 de julho de 2001, seção 1E, página 50, fa-vorável à aprovação dos Projetos de Resolução que instituem as Diretrizes Cur-riculares Nacionais dos cursos de Filosofia, História, Geografia, Serviço Social, Comunicação Social, Ciências Sociais, Letras, Biblioteconomia, Arquivologia e Museologia. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 29 jan. 2002. Seção 1. P. 60. Available at: <https://goo.gl/DkMMhC>. Access on: 2 Oct. 2013.
BRASIL. Ministério da Educação. Resolução nº 2, de 27 de setembro de 2013. In-stitui as Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais do curso de graduação em Relações Públicas. Diário Oficial da União, Brasília, DF, 1 out. 2013. Seção 1. P. 28-29. Available at: <http://goo.gl/Hl02iM>. Access on: 2 Oct. 2013.
CAMPANELLA, Lana D’Ávila. Estudo da Bibliografia na Disciplina: “teorias de re-lações públicas” dos cursos de rere-lações públicas brasileiros - uma análise das obras básicas utilizadas na disciplina. 2008. 303 f. Tese (Doutorado em Comunicação) – Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 2008.
CARRASCO, María Zúñiga. Innovación en Educación Superior. In: SÁNCHEZ, Aurelio Villa (Ed.). Las Universidadescomo Generadoras de la Innovación: in-vestigación, iniciativa y responsabilidad social. Costa Rica: Foro Internacional sobre Innovación Universitaria, 2013. P. 35-60.
CASTELLS, Manuel. A Galáxia da Internet: reflexões sobre a internet, os negó-cios e a sociedade. Tradução: Maria Luiza Borges. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2003. CASTELLS, Manuel. Creatividad, Innovación y Cultura Digital: un mapa de sus interacciones. Revista Telos, Madrid, n. 77, out./dez. 2008. Available at: <https://telos.fundaciontelefonica.com/telos/articulocuaderno.asp@ida-rticulo=2&rev=77.htm>. Access on: 9 Mar. 2017.
CUNHA, Maria Isabel da; ISAIA, Silvia de Maria Aguiar. Professor da Educação Superior. In: MOROSINI, Marília Costa (Ed.). Enciclopédia de Pedagogia
FERRARI, Maria Aparecida. A Trajetória das Relações Públicas nos Países do Mercosul: reflexão e pesquisa da atividade. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS DA COMUNICAÇÃO, 27., 2004, Porto Alegre. Anais... Porto Alegre: Intercom, 2004. P. 1-17. Available at: <http://www.intercom.org.br/papers/na-cionais/2004/resumos/R0301-1.pdf>. Access on: 22 Jun. 2015.
FRANCO, Maria Estela Dal Pai; BITTAR, Marisa. Políticas Públicas da Educação Superior (Org.). In: MOROSINI, Marília Costa (Ed.). Enciclopédia de Pedagogia
Universitária: glossário. v. 2. Brasília: INEP, 2006. P. 163-209.
GRUNIG, James. Uma Teoria Geral das Relações Públicas: quadro teórico para o exercício da profissão. In: GRUNIG, James; FERRARI, Maria Aparecida; FRAN-ÇA, Fábio. Relações Públicas: teoria, contexto e relacionamentos. 1. ed. São Caetano do Sul: Difusão Editora, 2009. P. 15-111.
KEMP, Laura. As Relações Públicas na América do Sul. Buenos Aires, 2014. (Slide presentation). Available at: <https://goo.gl/RE4wgh>. Access on: 22 Jun. 2017. KUNSCH, Margarida Maria Krohling. A Pesquisa e a Produção Científica em Comunicação no Brasil e sua Integração com a Sociedade. In: MOREIRA, Sonia Virginia; VIEIRA, João Pedro Dias (Org.). Comunicação: ensino e pesquisa. Rio de Janeiro: EdUERJ, 2008. P. 27-50.
LUCARELLI, Elisa. Teoria y Practica en la Universidad: la innovación em las aulas. Buenos Aires: Miño y D’Avila, 2009.
MACIEL, Adriana Moreira da Rocha. A Geratividade Docente na Educação Su-perior e os Movimentos (Trans) Formativos para o Desenvolvimento Profission-al. In: ISAIA, Silvia de Maria Aguiar; BOLZAN, Doris Pires Vargas (Org.).
Peda-gogia Universitária e Desenvolvimento Profissional Docente. Porto Alegre:
EDIPUCRS, 2009. P. 281-298.
MARQUES DE MELO, José. A Batalha da Qualidade no Ensino de Comunicação: novos (antigos) desafios. In: KUNSCH, Margarida Maria Krohling (Org.). Ensino
de Comunicação:qualidade na formação acadêmico-profissional. São Paulo:
ECA-USP; Intercom, 2007. P. 33-41.
MOURA, Cláudia Peixoto de. O Curso de Comunicação Social no Brasil:do cur-rículo mínimo às novas diretrizes curriculares. Porto Alegre: EDPUCRS, 2002. NEGROPONTE, Nicholas. A Vida Digital. Tradução: Sérgio Tellaroli. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1995.
OLIVEIRA, Valeska Fortes de. O Professor Universitário: saberes acadêmicos e demandas profissionais. In: MOROSINI, Marília Costa (Org.). Enciclopédia de
Pedagogia Universitária. Porto Alegre: FAPERGS/RIES, 2003. P. 253-261.
RHODEN, Valmor. O Ensino Superior de Relações Públicas: formação digital, práticas e desafios na UFSM. 2013. 331 f. Tese (Doutorado em Comunicação So-cial) – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação Social, Faculdade de Co-municação Social, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 2013.
TEIXEIRA, João Evangelista. Relações Públicas na Umesp: 30 anos de História. São Bernardo do Campo: UMESP, 2002.
TERRA, Carolina Frazon. Digital: o futuro das relações públicas na rede. 2006. 173 p. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciências da Comunicação) – Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2006.
URUGUAI. Ministério de Educação e Cultura. Decreto nº 104/14. Diário Oficial, Montevideo, 28 abr. 2014. Available at: <https://goo.gl/15jSRq >. Access on: 04 Apr. 2017.
Valmor Rhoden is a postdoc student in Education at Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM). Associate Professor of Public Relations at the Uni-versidade Federal do Pampa (UNIPAMPA) – São Borja campus. Member of the Research Group on Cross-Border Relations: history, politics and culture in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay triple frontier, from Unipampa and GE-PEIS, UFSM.
E-mail: valmor@unipampa.edu.br
Valeska Maria Fortes de Oliveira is the study’s advisor. Professor of the De-partment of Foundations of Education at Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) and Coordinator of the Studies and Research Group on Edu-cation and Social Imaginary – GEPEIS. Member of the Latin-American As-sociation of University Teaching (AIDU) and Network of Higher Education Researchers.
E-mail: vfortesdeoliveira@gmail.com
